WQLL

Last updated
WQLL
Broadcast area Baltimore, Maryland
Frequency 1370 kHz
BrandingBaltimore’s BIN 1370
Programming
Language(s) English
Format All-news radio
Network Black Information Network
Ownership
OwnerM-10 Broadcasting, Inc.
Operator iHeartMedia, Inc.
WCBM
History
First air date
April 5, 1955
(69 years ago) (1955-04-05)
Former call signs
  • WEBB (1955–1992)
  • WHLP (1992–1993)
  • WWLG (1993–2006)
  • WVIE (2006–2012)
Former frequencies
1360kHz (1955–2002)
Call sign meaning
WQLL(Cool)
Technical information [1]
Licensing authority
 FCC
Facility ID 27691
Class B
Power 50,000 watts day
24,000 watts night
Transmitter coordinates
Translator(s) 99.9 W260BV (Aberdeen)
Links
Public license information
Webcast Listen live (via iHeartRadio)
Website baltimore.binnews.com

WQLL (1370 AM) is a radio station broadcasting an all-news radio format. Licensed to Pikesville, Maryland, United States, a northwest suburb of the city in Baltimore County, it serves the Baltimore metropolitan area.

Contents

The station is currently owned by M-10 Broadcasting, Inc. and features programming from iHeartMedia's Black Information Network.

History

The station signed on originally in 1955 as WEBB on 1360 kHz on the AM radio dial. It established a well-known reputation in the city's black population with its dynamic, memorable DJs and pounding soul, blues, the Motown sound and other increasingly fractured sounds of developing rock music. In 1970, it was sold to famous entertainer and funk / soul music performer James Brown, (1933–2006), (later known as the "Godfather of Soul"!) who instituted an "Urban Contemporary" format and continued its popularity and competition among Baltimore's Afro-American black community. As a result of a bankruptcy proceeding, Brown sold WEBB to Dorothy E. Brunson, (1939–2011), in 1979. Brunson had formerly been a radio executive with the Inner City Broadcasting Corporation of New York City since 1973, where they owned five radio stations. [2] Brunson would later sell her radio stations eleven years later, including WEBB, in 1990, in order to provide funds with her partnership/syndicate for her newly-purchased UHF television station, WGTW-TV (formerly WKBS - Channel 48) in Philadelphia becoming the first African-American woman to own a television station in America. [3] The station's call sign was changed briefly to WHLP "Jobs Radio" in 1992, where help wanted ads were read on-air. The station received national attention as the first (possibly only) radio station dedicated to helping listeners find jobs. The jobs radio format was short-lived, and the call letters were changed to WWLG in 1993. WWLG-AM operated with an "adult standards" format which included big band and swing music and some early jazz, first popularized in the 1930s and 1940s which had not been heard regularly over Baltimore's airwaves for several decades except for a short interlude earlier on competing WAYE (AM 860) in the late 1980s which then had billed itself as "Big Band 86". The station changed broadcast frequency a decade later from its longtime position on the dial at 1360 kHz to 1370 kHz on July 22, 2002, which allowed it to operate with increased power but with highly directional signals from separate day and night transmitter sites.

Serving as the only regional station playing the "Great Depression" and World War II era music remembered by what came to be known as "the Greatest Generation", the station's hosts/DJ's and publicity staff encouraged and supported a number of unofficial fan clubs, singers and bands/orchestra followers, organizing social events, dances and musical concerts in the area, including touring national combos and several well-known local performers such as Zim Zemarel and His Orchestra.

After 13 years with the "big band"/"swing" musical programming (an unusually long time in the frequently unstable, changeable radio broadcasting industry), in June 2006, WWLG became WVIE, billed as "V-1370, The Voice", a talk station aimed at women with programming from Joy Browne, Laura Ingraham, Tammy Bruce, Laura Schlessinger, and longtime TV talk show host Sally Jessy Raphael. By late 2007, Bruce and Raphael had been dropped in favor of non-female oriented / general talk radio programming with conservative viewpoints such as Mancow Muller, Glenn Beck, and Phil Hendrie. On September 8, 2008, WVIE moved to a sports talk format, advertised as "Fox Sports Radio 1370".

After two and a half years, in May 2011, WVIE began moving away from the sports format, adding the long-form news/features program "America's Morning News" (syndicated by Talk Radio Network) in morning drive time from 5 to 9 a.m., and returned to the "V-1370" branding. [4] That July, WVIE dropped its locally oriented sports talk shows in favor of carrying "America's Radio News", an all-news network, complementing its sister conservative talk station on the AM dial at WCBM (680); nighttime and weekend programming were still provided by Fox Sports Radio. [5]

A little more than a year later, August 6, 2012, WVIE changed its format to oldies/classic hits, branded as "Q-1370", returning a bit to its previous years from 1993-2006 as WWLG with the 1930s and 1940s era music, only now also supplemented with the tunes from the next two decades of the 1950s and 1960s of the "rock and roll" era with what became known as "oldies" (also occasionally known as "goodies"), with now antique and classic vinyl 45 rpm records. WQLL is now using Classic Hits (Westwood One) programming service for its format and "Alan Lee's Roadhouse Oldies Show" a local enthusiast, appears on Wednesday Nights from 6 pm to 8 pm along with several other nationally syndicated "records and commentary" shows and also including broadcasting UMBC Retrievers men's basketball games from Catonsville/Arbutus's University of Maryland at Baltimore County. [6] On August 7, 2012, the station's call letters were officially changed to WQLL. In September 2013, WQLL added a new translator, W260BV, now broadcasting/transmitting from White Marsh, Maryland in eastern Baltimore County and Bel Air, Maryland in neighboring Harford County on 99.9 FM and rebranded itself as "Q-1370 AM & 99.9 FM" with simultaneous broadcasting on both wavelengths. On May 16, 2016, WQLL added a live, local morning drive program headed by Baltimore radio veteran Steve Rouse ("Rouse and Company"). [7] This show lasted for over a year with Steve's Radio partners, Tracy Hart and Pat O'Neill. In July 2017, Rouse retired from the station for medical reasons. Supporting players "Hart and O'Neill" continued and - upon Hart's exit - O'Neill became the sole host. O'Neill moved to afternoon drive (2:00 - 6:00pm until he resigned in August 2019 to pursue other interests.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KFYR (AM)</span> Radio station in Bismarck, North Dakota

KFYR is a commercial AM radio station in Bismarck, North Dakota. It airs a news-talk radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. Some hours on weekends, the station plays oldies. The studios are on East Rosser Avenue in Bismarck.

WBOB is a commercial AM radio station in Jacksonville, Florida. The station airs a talk radio format and is owned by Chesapeake-Portsmouth Broadcasting Corporation. Weekdays begin with a local news and information show, followed by mostly syndicated programming, including shows from Mark Levin, Mike Gallagher, Dennis Prager, Jay Sekulow and Red Eye Radio. Most hours begin with Townhall News. Some hours are paid brokered programming. The station calls itself "Talkradio AM 600 & FM 101.1 WBOB".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WSAN</span> Radio station in Pennsylvania, United States

WSAN is a commercial radio station licensed to Allentown, Pennsylvania. It is owned by iHeartMedia and serves the Lehigh Valley radio market. It broadcasts an oldies radio format, with its studios and offices in the iHeart Broadcasting Center in Whitehall Township. It is the oldest station in the Lehigh Valley.

WMAL-FM – branded 105.9 FM WMAL – is a radio station licensed to Woodbridge, Virginia, serving the Washington, D.C. Metro area. WMAL-FM airs a talk radio format and is owned and operated by Cumulus Media. The station's studios are located at 4400 Jenifer Street NW in Washington, two blocks from the city's border with Maryland, and the transmitter site is in Falls Church, Virginia, off Lee Highway. WMAL-FM is co-owned with sports radio station WSBN at 630 kHz; the WMAL call sign and talk format originated on that station, and the two stations simulcast from 2011 to 2019.

WHTX – branded as AM 1570 WHTX – is a commercial News Talk AM radio station licensed to serve Warren, Ohio. Owned by Sagittarius Communications, LLC., the station covers the Youngstown metropolitan area and much of the Mahoning Valley. The WHTX studios are located in Mineral Ridge, while the station transmitter resides in Warren. Besides a standard analog transmission, WHTX is available online.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KFXR (AM)</span> Radio station in Dallas, Texas

KFXR is a commercial AM radio station in Dallas, Texas, and serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is owned by iHeartMedia and airs a Conservative talk radio format. Its studios and offices are located along Dallas Parkway in Farmers Branch.

WGOP is a commercial radio station licensed to Pocomoke City, Maryland, United States, airing a classic hits format. It is owned by The Waters Group, LLC, and is also broadcast over low-power translator W293DN.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WQSR</span> Adult hits radio station in Baltimore, Maryland, US

WQSR is a commercial radio station licensed Baltimore, Maryland. The station is owned by iHeartMedia through licensee iHM Licenses, LLC. It broadcasts an adult hits radio format, using the syndicated "Jack FM" service and trademark. There are no DJs. Instead, a prerecorded male voice representing himself as "Jack" makes sarcastic and ironic quips.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KSTN (AM)</span> Radio station in Stockton, California

KSTN (1420 kHz is a commercial AM radio station in Stockton, California, owned by Robert LaRue, and licensed by KSTN, LLC. It airs a country music radio format, known as "105.9 The Bull."

WBTC is an AM radio station in Uhrichsville, Ohio, United States, broadcasting on 1540 kHz with a classic hits format.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WFLF (AM)</span> Radio station in Florida, United States

WFLF is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Pine Hills, Florida, and serving Greater Orlando. It is owned by iHeartMedia and airs a news/talk format. The studios and offices are in the iHeart Orlando complex in Maitland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WHLS</span> Radio station in Michigan, United States

WHLS is an alternative rock radio station licensed to Port Huron, Michigan, with a power output of 1,000 watts, covering much of St. Clair County, Michigan. It is the oldest continuously operating radio station serving St. Clair County. The station is owned by Radio First and broadcasts from studios on Huron Avenue in Downtown Port Huron. Its programming is also simulcasted on FM Translator W288BT, licensed to St. Clair, Michigan at 105.5 MHz, with an effective radiated power of 49 watts.

WRJN is a full service oldies radio station in Racine, Wisconsin, serving Racine and Kenosha Counties. The station is owned by Civic Media, Inc., along with sister station WAUK in Milwaukee. WRJN features live sports including Green Bay Packers football, Milwaukee Brewers baseball and University of Wisconsin Badgers games. WRJN's studios and transmitter tower are on Victory Avenue at 17th Street in Racine.

WARM is an AM radio station licensed to the city of Scranton, Pennsylvania, and serving the Scranton–Wilkes-Barre–Hazleton radio market. The station is owned by Seven Mountains Media, through licensee Southern Belle, LLC. The station is silent; it most recently simulcast classic country with former sister station WLGD. The studios and offices are on Baltimore Drive in Wilkes-Barre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WICC (AM)</span> Radio station in Connecticut, United States

WICC is a commercial AM radio station in Bridgeport, Connecticut, owned by Connoisseur Media. It airs as a news–talk radio format featuring local shows with Melissa Sheketoff, Lisa Wexler and Paul Pacelli. Nationally syndicated programs include Erick Erickson, Lars Larson, Dave Ramsey and Red Eye Radio. Weekends feature shows on safe money, music with the Oh Wow Oldies Show, featuring DJ Rob Ray. Most hours begin with world and national news from CBS News Radio. WICC was formerly a member of the New York Yankees Radio Network and formerly aired Sacred Heart University athletics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WZAN</span> Radio station in Maine, United States

WZAN is a commercial AM radio station broadcasting a classic country radio format. Licensed to Portland, Maine, it is owned by Saga Communications. The studios and offices are on Western Avenue in South Portland, Maine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KKAT (AM)</span> Radio station in Salt Lake City, Utah

KKAT is an AM radio station broadcasting a talk radio format. KKAT is licensed to Salt Lake City, Utah and is owned by Cumulus Media. The station's studios are located in South Salt Lake.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KDYL (AM)</span> Radio station in South Salt Lake, Utah

KDYL is an AM radio station licensed to South Salt Lake, Utah broadcasting a Spanish Variety format. The station is owned by Eric Palacios, through licensee Radio Activo 3 LLC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WTGM</span> Radio station in Maryland, United States

WTGM is a radio station broadcasting a sports format. Licensed to Salisbury, Maryland, United States, the station is currently owned by iHeartMedia. WTGM is located on the Delmarva Peninsula, and that is shown on the Fox Sports station logo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WCGR</span> Radio station in Canandaigua, New York

WCGR is a radio station broadcasting a soft classic rock format. Licensed to Canandaigua, New York, United States, the station is currently owned by Canandaigua Broadcasting, Inc. and features programming from ABC Radio and Dial Global.

References

  1. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for WQLL". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ↑ "Baltimore Sun: "Dorothy E. Brunson, radio station owner, dies", August 4, 2011". Archived from the original on December 1, 2011. Retrieved August 6, 2011.
  3. ↑ "Radio station WEBB is sold owner says format to stay". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2022-12-28.
  4. ↑ "PressBox: Rob Long's Morning Show Time Change". www.pressboxonline.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-24.
  5. ↑ Zurawik, David (June 30, 2011). "Radio station WVIE (1370 AM) drops local sports talk". The Baltimore Sun . Retrieved July 1, 2011.
  6. ↑ "Classic Hits Returns To Baltimore - RadioInsight". 2012-08-06. Retrieved 2022-12-28.
  7. ↑ Munshaw, Jonathan (May 12, 2016). "Steve Rouse's 'Rouse & Company' returning to Baltimore-area airwaves". www.bizjournals.com. Baltimore Business Journal. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.